Microbrachius dicki Traquair

This tiny antiarch from the Eday Flags is well described by Susan Hemmings(1978) A tail has never been found and possibly it had no tail since it is usually well preserved in well varved fishbeds where other fish show even the most thin hard to fossilize structures. The antiarch has many small hooks on the inside and at the end of its little arms (pectoral appendages). Maybe they functioned to fasten the fish on water plants when the current was too high. There are good indications that most of the fish in the Eday Subgroup were living in the rivers or tiny lakes.

The antiarchs in general are typical bottom dwellers and with their tiny mouths on the ventral side of the head they were probably after everything edible. Maybe the pectoral appendages had a function finding food on the bottom.

Fish in dorsal view	Fish in dorsal view
Fish in dorsal view	Fish in dorsal view
Fish with pectoral appendages visible	Close up of appendage, tiny hooks
Complete fish in dorsal view showing pectoral appendages	Reconstruction of body in dorsal aspect (after Hemming, 1978 ©)
Reconstruction in ventral aspect (after Hemmings, 1978 ©)	Reconstruction of head in dorsal aspect (after Hemmings, 1978 ©)
Reconstruction of head and body in dorsal aspect (after Hemmings, 1978 ©)	Reconstruction (after Traquair, 1886)
Drawing of specimen (after Traquair, 1886)	Drawing of specimen (after Traquair, 1886)
Reconstruction of fish in dorsal view (Watson, 1935)